Pilot friends we remember...

Russell Bannock OOnt, DSCO, DFC passed away on January 4th, at the ripe age of 100! Though I did not know him well, I still consider him a pilot friend, and certainly a mentor. I knew him in his deHavilland days, and he took me flying a couple of times, showing me the merits of the Beaver with consummate ease. he inspired me with stories of test flying at dH, and a few Mosquito stories from WW2. Russ, along with George Neal, Bob Fowler, Mic Saunders, and Bill Loverseed from deHavilland Flight test all inspired me....

Sometimes it's nice to talk about it instead of bottling it up, isn't it ? Thanks for the opportunity. PDAR. My recollections are mainly from years ago when we were just young kids straight out of training. Some of the transition era of jet aircraft had a number of "nasty habits" to consider. There were drills but occasionally these were not effective. In those cases it was mainly that the airframes and engines of the time were just not up to the job expected of them. Among a few of the problems, one could talk about seats that didn't fire on request when another known weakness showed itself and the aircraft had to be abandoned. Complex hydraulic systems operating at very high pressures and electrical systems that failed and caused further system losses, particularly in bad weather, were commonplace. Early days of AAR resulting in broken hoses ; underwing stores mounted on dubious WW2 and Korean War load carriers designed for piston and turboprop aircraft; landing gear with more limited life than expected. I reckon I lost about 15 friends in such circumstances, sometimes two at a time. I stiff-upper-lipped it up for years but the last time I visited a certain graveyard, on my own fortunately, I just blubbed uncontrollably.

Since then, in later life, a further 6 are no longer with us mainly due to operating at the extent of the aircraft envelope. I sometimes just feel guilty that, besides missing their company, I myself have come through it. I have frightened myself a number of times since, both by overconfident stupidity or failures that I have dealt with and walked away. I have done many years of maintenance flight testing that could be construed as asking for it. I have also done a lot of what could be described as exploring the edges of the envelope as an instructor teaching advanced handling. Fortunately, with such experience and by taking their deaths to heart and trying to avoid getting too enthusiastic, I am still here.

A very thoughtful thread, I like the idea of remembering missing aviator friends & acquaintances. I lost 2 friends , both great pilots who were GA instructors & ATPL captains. 1in a GA midair & 1 due to structural failure in an auto gyro. Very sad losses. I’ve also lost a number of acquaintances over the years. On my part I’ve had some close calls which have given me an even greater respect for the air. You never stop learning as an aviator. Fly safely folks , enjoy it but respect the air because it can be very unforgiving . RIP Andy & Ron, forever blue skies.

Two weeks ago I witnessed an accident. Two friends died as a result of a mid-air collision between an ASK-21 and the C-182 which had just released it. The towplane severed the glider's tailboom at the base of the fin. The descent was mercifully quick.

Allan W. was a few years younger than me. He had started gliding quite late in life, but quickly progressed and by the time I rejoined my club in 2015 after an overseas assignment, he was the CFI. He had imposed a strong safety culture on the club and was well-respected and was a very nice, sociable person. As a friend said "He was one of the good guys."

Adam L. was an 18 year-old post-solo student, who was doing a pre-license flight with Allan. I had known him for two years as a friendly, outgoing club-member, who was very keen, always helping out if he was not flying. His instructors universally described him as a very good pilot. What I didn't know was his achievements in other fields. He had been doing Taekwondo since the age of five, was an instructor and had recently become a Second Dan Black Belt. He was also a very popular and well respected WO2 in a local Air Cadet squadron. He had graduated from High School this year and was going to study Physics at university this fall.

A tragic loss of two such nice people. This was the first time I had been involved with the aftermath of a fatal accident and I had often wondered how I would react in this situation. I discovered that I was able to separate the events after the accident from my interaction with my two friends earlier in the day. I went into a kind of automatic mode when dealing with police and emergency personnel at the crash site.

I have been lucky in that only one other friend has been killed in an aircraft accident. Bruce Handyside was a school friend of mine. We did RAF Special Flying Awards together at White Waltham in 1966 and then he went on to Cranwell and I went to university. After getting his wings, he went onto helicopters. He was killed in Oman in the early 70s when an underslung load hit his Huey.

Good Morning India Four two,I hope you are well.

I was extremely saddened to hear of Flt Lt Bruce Handyside's passing as I also knew him.

I met him when I was detatched to RAF Leconfield from Binbrook in the early 70's.I was on the RAF Police flight,and he was flying SAR on 202 Sqn.I volunteered to act as survivor on training sorties,and did several "wet" and "dry" exercises with him and his crew.

I met him again at RAF Salalah a few months later and we spent some time reminiscing. I recall he was involved in an incident when his a/c struck the ground and he was thrown through the windscreen, suffering facial and other injuries. I visited him at the FST, shortly after his admission.

I found Bruce to be an extremely pleasant,friendly and genuine guy,who would always take time to explain what we were doing and why.I value the memories of the times I flew with him and remember him with deep respect and affection.

He was definitely one of the good guys. I shall raise a glass to his memory tonight.

I've only just seen your post. Thanks for your anecdotes about Bruce. I agree with you, he was really nice.

The last time I saw him was in 1967 when I was on my first UBAS Summer Camp at Binbrook. A group of us who had school friends at Cranwell, drove down there to see them. I was always slightly surprised that he went to Cranwell, since he did arts subjects in the Sixth Form. He was also a talented artist. I suspect his father, who had been a WWII RAF pilot, may have been instrumental in his decision.

I was in Canada when he was killed and I didn't find out about it for several years, until my Mother mentioned in passing that she had heard about the accident.